5 Lean, Mean Profit Machines

These companies squeeze plenty of profits from their workers

Despite the upbeat (if somewhat restrained) news on the unemployment front between the U.S. Department of Labor report last week and this week’s ADP report, the overall employment picture in the U.S. still is hazy.

Job growth still is scarce, with unemployment hovering in and around the 8% range now for almost three years. However, downsized companies (please don’t call it “rightsized”) have learned to do more with less, squeezing more productivity and profits out of fewer workers.

CNBC recently highlighted these “champions” of efficiency in its latest listing of the S&P 500’s Leanest Companies, which provides the best companies in terms of revenues per employee.

However, revenues aren’t everything — KB Home (NYSE:KBH), for instance, made the list with $1,591,921 in annual revenue per employee, but the company wasn’t able to turn that into profitability, with the company averaging $478,769 in losses for each worker! So it’s worth pointing out the champions that didn’t just maximize revenues, but profits — where the rubber truly hits the road.

Here, we’ll look at five lean, mean profit machines that employ more than 1,000 workers: